Yu Long

Yu Long, the distinguished Chinese conductor with an extensive international reputation, is the Music Director of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, Artistic Director & Chief Conductor of the China Philharmonic Orchestra and Music Director of the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra. He is also the Principal Guest Conductor of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. Maestro Yu is the Founder of the Beijing Music Festival and was its Artistic Director from 1998 to 2018. He is the Co-Director of the MISA Summer Festival in Shanghai.

In the 2019/20 season, alongside his work in China, Maestro Yu makes guest appearances across the globe, including with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Bern Symphony Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, Auckland Philharmonia, Taiwan Philharmonic and Singapore Symphony Orchestra. Summer 2019 saw Maestro Yu lead the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra on a tour of the US and Europe, with performances at London’s BBC Proms, Edinburgh International Festival, Wolf Trap, and Ravinia Festival in addition to performances at the Lucerne Festival, Grafenegg Festival and Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw.

In June 2018, Maestro Yu signed an exclusive recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon, which began a global release and distribution partnership. As part of the Deutsche Grammophon’s 120^th anniversary celebrations in 2018/19, Maestro Yu conducted a spectacular launch concert in October at the site of Beijing’s historic Imperial Ancestral Temple at the Forbidden City, alongside artists such as Aida Garifullina and Daniil Trifonov.

He made history with the China Philharmonic Orchestra which became the first Chinese orchestra to perform at the Vatican in the Paul VI Auditorium in 2008. Yu has signed a recording deal with Deutsche Grammophon and started global release and distribution partnership.

Born in 1964 into a musical family in Shanghai, Yu Long received his early musical education from his grandfather Ding Shande, a composer of great renown, and went on to study at the Shanghai Conservatory and the Hochschule der Kunst in Berlin. In 2016, Yu was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. In the mainland, having received the 2013 China Arts Award, Yu was named a “Morally and Artistically Excellent Artist” in 2015. He is currently Vice President of the Chinese Musicians Association.